Miller comes up big as Blazers tie Thunder for 6th

OKLAHOMA CITY(AP) -- With a two-handed slam off an alley-oop,
Serge Ibaka brought the Ford Center crowd to a frenzy and the
Oklahoma City Thunder back from a fourth-quarter deficit.

Portland never panicked.

Andre Miller scored 26 points, Brandon Roy added 20 and the
Trail Blazers beat Oklahoma City 92-87 on Sunday night to move
into a three-way tie with the Thunder and San Antonio for sixth
place in the Western Conference.

"We just scrapped," Roy said. "It was one of those games where
it wasn't pretty, but it was kind of one of those situations
where I felt it was kind of a playoff-type of game and it was
good that we've been there before to get that experience."

Ibaka's dunk capped a run of six straight points by Oklahoma
City and tied the score at 84 with 3:55 remaining. After a
timeout, Roy got tripped up by Jeff Green and hit two free
throws to put Portland ahead to stay. Marcus Camby followed with
a steal from Russell Westbrook at the opposite end and hit two
free throws of his own, and the Trail Blazers were able to hold
on from there.

Kevin Durant's 3-pointer for the tie with about 7 seconds left
came up short off the front rim, and Miller hit two free throws
with 4.6 remaining to ice it.

"We were just able to make key plays going down the stretch but
especially on the defensive end," Camby said. "We were able to
get stops and go down on the other end and convert. ...
Hopefully our defense can be our mainstay of what we do around
here."

The Blazers have won 11 of their last 13 games to extending
their cushion over ninth place in the West from two to 6 1/2
games. Portland can clinch a spot in the postseason with three
wins in its last eight games.

"My message to the team has always been, `Let's not focus on the
teams behind us. Let's look ahead to who we can catch,"' Roy
said. "This was a huge game tonight because it was a division
game and a team that was right ahead of us, so it was definitely
a game that we really wanted to win."

Durant finished with 29 points for Oklahoma City, but missed all
three of his shots in the fourth quarter. After making 97 of his
last 100 free-throw tries entering the game, Durant had a key
miss in the final 3 minutes. He also missed a pair of 3-pointers
in the final 2 1/2 minutes.

"He's an unbelievable scorer," Portland coach Nate McMillan
said. "I think that the big thing is to try to make him work to
catch, deny him his touches as much as possible and then try and
stay in front of him. I thought our guys did that."

The Thunder need only four wins in their last 10 games to sew up
a playoff spot.

"We've just got to take these 10 games and give it our all,"
Green said. "We're fighting for position, fighting in the
playoff race."

Miller led the way as Portland built double-digit leads early in
both halves before letting the Thunder rally back both times.
His point total was his highest since he scored a career-best 52
points on Jan. 30.

"He knows how to score and he puts pressure on the other team's
point guard," Roy said. "Westbrook had his hands full tonight
and because of that, I think he wasn't able to be as explosive
on the offensive end as maybe he's used to. Dre, he knows this
time of year. You can tell he's got a little sense of urgency."

Portland improved to 14-3 in the second game of back-to-back
sets this season and has won its last eight, dating to a loss on
Jan. 5 against Memphis.

McMillan said he had tried to motivate his team by pointing out
the Blazers were in fourth in the Northwest Division after
challenging for the title last season.

"I don't even know about the standings," Camby said. "I just
know we haven't clinched anything. We don't have an X by our
name. What we've been talking about around here is winning 50
ballgames. That's the benchmark we're trying to get to."

NOTES: Thunder coach Scott Brooks visited last May with Tom
Izzo, who coached Michigan State to its sixth Final Four in the
last 12 years with a 70-69 victory against Tennessee on Sunday.
"He takes his team to the championship games or Final Fours a
lot. I knew that there was something special about him," Brooks
said. "I wanted to know how he teaches and coaches the game."
Brooks said he has applied some of Izzo's drills teaching
rebounding and toughness. "Just make the shot. Don't worry about
getting fouled," Brooks said. "He just has a real tough
philosophy. After meeting with him, you know why his teams play
physical basketball every night." ... Portland led after the
first quarter for the seventh straight game. ... Durant finished
13 for 15 from the foul line.